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Iberia Plus, the frequent flyer program of Iberia Airlines, provides various opportunities for earning and redeeming Avios. As part of the International Airlines Group (IAG) and a member of the Oneworld alliance, Iberia offers a broad network of destinations and numerous benefits for travelers. This guide will cover how to earn and redeem Avios with Iberia Plus, highlight valuable redemption options (including one of the best mileage sweet spots in the game), explain the program’s expiration policy, and discuss how to earn elite status and navigate Iberia’s award pricing.
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How to Earn Iberia Plus Avios
Flying On Iberia
Iberia actually has a revenue based earn system when it comes to earning Avios on its flights. This means that the more expensive the ticket is, the more miles you earn. Consequently, even if you find a long haul ticket for cheap, you won’t earn a lot of miles.
- Iberia Plus Clásica: 5 Avios
- Iberia Plus Plata: 6 Avios
- Iberia Plus Oro: 7 Avios
- Iberia Plus Platino: 8 Avios
Flying On Partner Airlines
As a member of the Oneworld alliance, you can also earn Avios when flying with any of the Oneworld member airlines, including American Airlines, British Airways, and Cathay Pacific. How many Avios you earn varies significantly between each airline partner, but, in general, it’s based on the distance traveled and your booking fare class.
For example, when flying on Japan Airlines, you’ll earn up 1 Avios for every mile flown in premium economy (fare codes W/R). If you book premium economy with fare code P, you’ll actually only earn 0.5 Avios for every mile flown.
Earn rates and fare codes differ significantly from airline to airline, so you’ll want to look at Iberia’s direct charts to calculate your expected earnings correctly.
Credit Card Transfer Partners
With Iberia being a member of the Avios family, you can effortlessly transfer your Avios to Iberia with no fees if your credit card allows transfers to any Avios program. This is made even more accessible by Avios’ partnerships with multiple major credit card issuers:
Transfer bonuses are frequently offered by credit card issuers for Avios programs. You can see occasional transfer bonuses of around 30% when transferring your points to British Airways.
Here are some of our favorite cards that you can use to quickly accumulate more Avios:
Buy Iberia Avios
Iberia lets members purchase Avios, with a minimum of 2,000 Avios and a maximum of 200,000 Avios per transaction.
Unfortunately, buying Avios is not a good deal by any means. Avios start at €59 / 2,000 Avios, which implies a ~2.95 cent per point (in Euros), which is pretty expensive for Avios.
However, given that all Avios are essentially the same, British Airways and Qatar tend to run promotions when it comes to purchasing Avios. We’ve seen sales for even 70% off Avios, which reduces their price to just 1.34 USD cents per Avios.
Avios Subscription
British Airways offers a unique product called the "Avios Subscription," which lets you automatically earn Avios every month for a monthly or annual fee. The best value plan, known as the annual "Adventurer" plan, costs £1,989 per year and provides 200,000 Avios over the year (16,667 Avios per month). When converted to USD, this equates to about 1.25 cents per point (CPP), making it a relatively good rate for purchasing Avios outright.
As always, Avios you earn through British Airways can be seamlessly transferred to Iberia Plus with no fees.
Do Avios Expire?
Avios earned through Iberia Plus expire after 36 months. However, any activity in your account, such as earning or redeeming Avios, can extend the validity of your Avios, making it easier to keep them active and use them before they expire.
Transferring Avios is not considered an activity to reset the 36 month timer.
Earn Iberia Plus Elite Status
Iberia Plus offers five elite status tiers, providing various benefits to frequent flyers. To qualify for status, you need to earn Elite Points by flying on Iberia, Oneworld member airlines, or other partner airlines:
- Plata (Silver): 1,100 Elite Points
- Oro (Gold): 2,250 Elite Points
- Platino (Platinum): 6,250 Elite Points (or 12,500 over two consecutive years)
- Infinita: Invitation-only, typically requiring significant and sustained travel
Iberia elite status confers a variety of exciting benefits, ranging from priority check-in and additional checked bags to lounge access and priority security lanes. The higher your status, the wider the range of “soft benefits” you get as well, outside of the strictly published ones.
Elite Points are accumulated at a different rate than standard Avios. They’re rewarded on a more stringent basis, favoring those who spend on business and first class fares the most. You can earn Elite Points when flying on Iberia or Oneworld airlines. While there is a table defining Elite Point earn rates, it is extraordinarily complicated for Iberia flights. However, it is very straightforward for partner flights:
So this means that if you fly any business class cash fare with a Oneworld partner between 3,001–6,000 miles long, you’ll earn 500 Elite Points, putting you about halfway to Silver status.
Wait, Are My Avios In My Qatar/Iberia/Aer Lingus/British Airways Accounts All The Same Avios?
One of the unique aspects of Avios is that they serve as the frequent flyer currency for multiple Oneworld airlines under the International Airlines Group (IAG). This arrangement allows you to transfer Avios internally at a 1:1 ratio between these programs. For instance, if you have 1,000 Qatar Avios, you can seamlessly transfer them to your British Airways account and use them as needed.
In some instances, you may have to transfer your Avios to British Airways first and then retransfer them to your desired partner.
To make your life easier, it is generally recommended to make sure that all your Avios accounts have the same exact name and registration information. This just makes it easier for the various systems at play to pull your information correctly.
These airlines all use Avios as their standardized currency:
- Qatar Airlines
- Iberia Airlines
- Aer Lingus (*being transitioned to Star Alliance)
- British Airways
- Finnair
What Airlines Are Partners With Iberia Airlines?
As a part of the Oneworld alliance, Iberia has several immediate partners that offer reciprocal status recognition and mileage earnings:
You can earn and redeem Avios whenever you fly on one of these airlines. Of course, award availability remains as the key determining factor of redemption ability when it comes to Avios. Iberia elite status also confers benefits when flying on these airlines:
How Iberia Prices Its Award Flights
Iberia uses a distance-based award chart to price its award flights. The chart categorizes flights into distance bands, and the mileage cost is determined by the origin and destination and the class of service. It also factors in timing, with off-peak and on-peak pricing depending on your date of travel. For instance, days in red are considered on-peak and will cost more Avios.
While Iberia doesn’t publish its award chart anymore, they still use the same chart as before. The following chart is for off-peak Iberia award prices:
This chart is for their on-peak pricing:
Iberia Sweet Spot Redemptions 2024
Iberia has one of the best sweet spot redemptions in the game, which makes it a particularly exciting program to be familiar with, especially if you are trying to get to Europe.
Fly Iberia Business Class From Northeast US Starting At Just 34,000 Avios One Way
Savvy readers may have noticed an incredible sweet spot when looking at the award chart. For off-peak flights flying 3,001–4,000 miles, Iberia charges just 34,000 Avios with ~$100 USD in taxes/fees, which is an incredible deal if you think about what you are getting.
The following routes cost just 34,00 Avios one-way (off-peak):
- Boston <> Madrid (3,401 miles long)
- New York (JFK) <> Madrid (3,589 miles long)
- Washington DC (IAD) <> Madrid (3,816 miles long)
Unfortunately, Chicago (ORD) is just a little bit too far to fall into this distance band.
Relax In Iberia Business Class From Midwest & Southern US Starting At Just 42,500 Avios One Way
If you are based in the Midwest or Southern US, don’t lose hope. Iberia’s next distance band (4,001–5,500 miles) is still an incredible deal, starting at just 42,500 Avios for off-peak flights. Iberia services several routes from these parts of the states:
Enjoy Iberia Business Class From West Coast US Starting At Just 51,000 Avios One Way
Given the distance of these flights, West Coast US flights to/from Europe on Iberia will start at 51,000 Avios one way. Iberia only services one West Coast route: Los Angeles <> Madrid (5,845 miles flown).
Iberia Airlines Award Cancellation Policy
Iberia has reasonable fees for canceling or changing an award flight operated by Iberia:
- Blue class: Changes and refunds are permitted up to 24 hours before the flight with a penalty of €25. No full refunds or partial refunds for segments not flown are permitted after the flight.
- Full Economy: Changes and refunds are permitted up to 24 hours before the flight. No full refunds or partial refunds for segments not flown are permitted after the flight.
- Premium Economy: Changes and refunds are permitted up to 24 hours before the flight with a penalty of €25. No full refunds or partial refunds for segments not flown are permitted after the flight.
- Business: Changes and refunds are permitted up to 24 hours before the flight with a penalty of €25. No full refunds or partial refunds for segments not flown are permitted after the flight.
I stress the operated by Iberia part because Iberia award tickets for partner flights (excluding British Airways) are brutal: no refunds or changes allowed. That is an incredibly harsh restriction that would make me err away from using Iberia for partner bookings.
Conclusion
Iberia Plus is a relatively interesting frequent flyer program. While partner awards are generally not recommended, Iberia’s business class flights via the United States are among some of the best deals in award travel. With careful planning and by focusing on sweet spot redemptions, it is possible to find decent value in the program. Being aware of the program's limitations and benefits will help you make the most of your Iberia Plus Avios.
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